The castle of Miravet is one of the most visited historical monuments of Terres de l'Ebre. Located on top of a hill, the castle dominates the village of Miravet, the river Ebro and the mountains of around. The origin of the fortitude goes back to the epoch of Moslem domination in Catalunya. After the reconquest, the Catalan count Ramón Berenguer IV gives the castle and the lands of around to the mythical Order of the Temple, born in Holy Earth to protect the visit of the pilgrims to the sacred places of the christianity. With the capitulation and detention of the templars of the Crown of Aragon in1308, the castle goes on to hands of the Order of the Hospitable ones. During the following centuries, the castle is one of the stage of good part of the warlike conflicts that happen in Catalunya. Finally, in April, 1938, the fortitude is occupied by the pro-Franco troops that conquer the right bank of the river Ebro.

The night of July 25th, 1938, thousands of republican soldiers cross in silence the river Ebro to attack the hostile forces that defend the right bank of the river, where there was populations like Ascó, Flix, Móra d'Ebre, Benissanet and Miravet. The soldiers of 11th Division, of the Corps V of Army of the Lieutenant Colonel Enrique Líster, cross the river in the small hours. In Miravet, the pro-Franco garrison installed in the castle prepares itself to defend the fortitude with rifles, machine guns and hand bombs. The 7th battalion of Arapiles resists the attacks of the republican infantry. The 11th Division decides then to install weighed pieces of artillery before the castle, in other bank of the river.

The fortitude is bombarded, the commander of the battalion dies and his soldiers decided to surrender. At 14.00 P.M. the republican flag waves over the castle. The republicans install a footbridge to facilitate the step of the troops. That will provoke that Miravet turns into a target of the pro-Franco airforce. The zone was one of the most important points of connection between the frontline and the republican rearguard and it turned into one of the strategic places of supplying of the soldiers. On November 5th, Miravet it is reconquered by the Franco supporters. The MIravet castle is accessible in car and on foot. Property of Generalitat de Catalunya, the fortitude can be visited from Tuesday until Sunday.

The symbol of the propaganda 

The Generalitat de Catalunya's commission of propaganda spread into the mass media an image that has turned in mythical. The step of the republican soldiers on foot with the people and the castle of Miravet of fund has turned into the graphic symbol of the offensive of the battle of the Ebro. The reality is that in this zone of the river it is not possible to cross on foot. Therefore, there are several versions on as it was possible to realize the image. A version makes sure that the soldiers were disembarked in longboats to few meters of other bank of the river and they covered, this way, the last stretch on foot. The second version most extended in the people of Miravet, makes sure that the image of the soldiers in formation of attack is realized in a field of wheat. Then, it would have overlapped an image with the river Ebro and Miravet village.

The discovery 

The discovery of some projectiles originating of the battle of the Ebro in the battlefield is not an exceptional fact. In april, 2010 there was discovered during a few works of rehabilitation of the castle of Miravet, a big projectie of the Spanish Civil War in the wall. The projectile, of origin Italian and surely used by the national army, was located to approximately six meters high. Mossos d'Esquadra moved up to Miravet and, after placing a few scaffolds and cleaning several stones the zone, could extract the intact projectile. The projectile was active and, for unknown causes, had not exploited, although he was in perfect state. His diameter was 155 millimeters, 50 centimeters long and 10 kilos of weight.